Nation & World

September 29, 2008

MARYLAND

Medical helicopter crash kills 4

The pilot of a medical helicopter twice radioed for help in foggy weather before crashing Sunday in a suburban Washington park, killing four of the five people on board, authorities said. It was the eighth fatal medical helicopter crash in the last 12 months nationwide.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.

$6 million

The amount North Dakota farmers have spent to open two Washington restaurants, one just blocks from the White House, to showcase food from family farms. The newer eatery aims to be "Washington's greenest restaurant."

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WASHINGTON, D.C.

Congress is sending to President George W. Bush a bill that would extend for two years a federal program to clean up areas of pollution and contaminated sediment around the Great Lakes. The House voted 411-9 Sunday in favor of the measure, approving $54 million a year over the next two years for the project.

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CALIFORNIA

Hollywood celebrities can continue to drive with animals nestled in their laps as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is vetoing a bill to fine motorists $35 for sharing the driver's seat with lap dogs or other animals. A Republican assemblyman introduced the bill after seeing a woman driving with three dogs on her lap.

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GEORGIA

The federal government expects a record amount of flu vaccine to be on hand for inoculations in the next few months. About 140 million to 146 million doses will be available through the end of the flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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JAPAN

88

Percentage of Japanese who consider themselves happy, according to a recent survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

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CUBA

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in his second whirlwind visit to Cuba in less than a week, met privately for 2 1/2 hours Saturday night with ailing former leader Fidel Castro, state media reported Sunday. Chavez reportedly discussed his recent tour of China, Russia and Europe.

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ECUADOR

Ecuadoreans handily approved a new constitution Sunday, exit polls showed, significantly broadening leftist President Rafael Correa's powers as he forges his own brand of socialism with such benefits as social security for stay-at-home mothers.

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SOMALIA

As a U.S. destroyer patrolled nearby, a Somali pirate spokesman demanded a $20 million ransom for the release of a Ukrainian cargo ship loaded with Russian tanks and other weapons. The spokesman also warned that the pirates would fight to the death if any country tried military action against them. One crew member of the cargo ship reportedly has died of hypertension.

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IRAQ

A series of explosions apparently timed to strike Muslims preparing to break the Ramadan fast killed at least 31 people in Baghdad on Sunday and injured dozens.

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HONDURAS

Authorities say U.S. hotelier Thomas Jacobson, 55, has been freed a week after his abduction. They did not know whether a ransom was paid.